1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to an image forming apparatus supporting WiFi Direct, and more particularly, to a method of controlling Internet access of a wireless terminal connected to an image forming apparatus that supports WiFi Direct, in the image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Today, Peer to Peer (P2P) communication that directly connects wireless devices without using a separate wireless connection device has become common in use, and a representative technique enabling P2P communication may include BLUETOOTH technology. BLUETOOTH is slightly limited in terms of transmission speed and transmission range, but as new versions are continuously developed, BLUETOOTH devices have been improving.
WiFi, which is a wireless Local Area Network (LAN) standard based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 prescribed in the WiFi Alliance, allows a use of ultra high-speed Internet through access to an access point (AP) connected to an infra network, but when an ad-hoc function is used, P2P communication is also possible. However, when the ad-hoc function is used, security is weak and transmission speed decreases, and a setup method is not easy to execute. Thus, recently, the WiFi Alliance has proposed WiFi Direct as a technique to allow P2P communication. WiFi Direct enables P2P connection between wireless devices without using an AP, supports a maximum speed of 250 Mbps, and allows security setup using WiFi Protected Access 2 (WPA2), thereby substantially remedying disadvantages of the ad-hoc communication. Moreover, by supporting a transmission range of up to 200 m, WiFi Direct emerges as a new alternative to P2P communication.
As such, with the recent emergence of WiFi Direct, the use of P2P communication seems to increase and the P2P communication technique may also be applied to an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a scanner, a facsimile, or a complex machine. Therefore, for safe and convenience use of an image forming apparatus which supports P2P connection, techniques for user authentication, connection control, authority control, and security management are required.